


No Regrets

by theimpossiblepossiblegirl



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [33]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 20:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7772011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossiblepossiblegirl/pseuds/theimpossiblepossiblegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rose and the Doctor land one hundred years in her future, they decide to see how different life is. They are amused to discover that hoverboards are the new way of getting places and the Doctor decides to teach Rose how to use them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> Week Thirty-Three: A story set 100 years in the future.

“Rough landing.” Rose muttered as she pulled herself up off of the grating. “Where are we? Seemed like she didn’t want us landing here.”

“Only one way to find out.” He told her brightly as he held his hand out to her.

She rolled her eyes slightly before slipping her hand into his. “Last time we went outside without you checking where we were, we ended up in jail.”

“Right. No jail today.” He pulled her over towards the screen and hit the side of it. “Looks like we’re on Earth. Cardiff.” He frowned. “The year is 2116.”

“Really?” She turned her head to look at the screen and was met with Circular Gallifreyan. “Is there something wrong with where we are?”

“Would I ever lead you into danger Rose Tyler?” He questioned, giving her an impish grin. “Don’t answer that.”

“Are we safe to go out then? We haven’t been to Cardiff since we dropped Jack, Martha, and Mickey off.” She let out a breath.

The Doctor leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We can leave.”

“No, it’s fine. Are we close to the rift?”

“Yes we are.”

Rose narrowed her eyes. “Is that why she didn’t want to land? Are we close to where Jack is?”

“Rose, coming back here is hard for me and the TARDIS. I’m not going back to Torchwood.”

“We don’t have to. Jack said he got Torchwood One to close after what happened. Can we go to Torchwood Three? I really want to see Jack. Please?”

He saw her eyes pleading with him. “It’s a hundred years in your future Rose. If you see him now, you won’t be able to go back and see him.”

Realization washed over and she nodded solemnly. “Right. After we refuel can we go to an earlier time and see him?”

“If I can get her to land in an earlier year, yes.” He looked up and saw that the lights were starting to dim. “She wants us to go leave. I think the landing was harder than she thought.”

Rose grabbed her bag and walked out of the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor to follow. She knew he was right, but she still missed having Jack. Aside from Mickey and the Doctor, he was all she had in this Universe.

“Doctor?”

“What is it Rose?” He straightened his bowtie and stood beside her after locking up the TARDIS.

“They’re all dead. Mickey, Mum, Pete, even Tony.”

“Not in your actual time, Rose. They’re all still alive.” He told her. He hadn’t been able to figure out a way for her to talk to her mum again. Not after they returned Jackie to Pete’s World. She had understood that Rose wanted to stay with him. He had been grateful especially after Donna decided she too wanted to stay in Pete’s world with the Metacrisis. “We need to tread carefully.”

Rose looked around and saw people moving around on hoverboards instead of walking. “Is this really what happens?”

“Let’s see if we can find a newspaper.”

As they walked along the sidewalk, they were given dubious looks by everyone. Perhaps they needed to find a store and get hoverboards. Last time he had one, he had set it on fire. He still claimed it was faulty wiring. Rose pulled him into a chippy and found a newspaper someone left on the table.

“I’m going to order chips, you have a look at the paper.” Rose told him before walking up to the counter.

The Doctor slipped into one of the seats and watched as she walked up to the counter. It had been ten years since he admitted to her he loved her and the words only spoken a handful of times since then. He knew she knew how he felt about her, making the words unnecessary. She still looked the same as she did ten years ago. He knew the cause was linked to her time looking into the vortex. Perhaps it also had to do with how he took it out of her.

But the look on her face when she realized everyone would be dead in a hundred years made him realize life was still so short in her eyes. Did she regret leaving Pete’s World? Would she still have made it back to him? Breaking from his thoughts, he opened up the newspaper and began to read through it. Everyone in the pictures had hoverboards, which appeared to be the new way of getting around. Cars were still around, but people no longer walked.

“What did you find?” Rose questioned as she sat down next to him with her basket of chips.

“We’re going to need hoverboards, Rose Tyler.” He gave her a manic grin before plucking some chips from her basket.

“You set the last three you had on fire, Doctor.” She reminded him, a hint of a smile on her face.

“Faulty wiring!” He grimaced slightly before stuffing a chip in his mouth.

It was later on that afternoon as the Doctor helped Rose to learn how to operate her bright pink hoverboard that he realized she wouldn’t leave him. Despite missing her family and being the only one left in this Universe, she had him, Mickey, and Jack. That was enough for her. He was enough.

He caught her lips in a brief but gentle kiss before letting her go. He stepped on his and followed her down the sidewalk as they raced. When he eventually caught up to her, he helped her to spin in a small circle before pulling her towards him.

“I will try to find a way for you to see them again Rose.”

“It’s all right, Doctor.” She rested her hands on his chest, above his hearts. “I have the pictures from the flat and everything I wanted from there. Yeah, I’d like to see Mum again and Tony, Pete too. I know you’d like to see Donna again. If anyone can figure out how, it’s you.”

“When you left, what year was it?”

“They run ahead about three years.” She hummed quietly. “2011, I think. Tony’s a teenager now.” She laughed softly. “Hopefully he didn’t give Mum the same runaround I did.”

“Bet he did. I’m sure she told him stories about you, Pete too.”

“I wrote some down, before I left. Mum said she would read them to him.” She shrugged her shoulders slightly. “I don’t regret it, Doctor. I’m glad I’m here with you.”

He gave her a grin before gesturing down the sidewalk. “Race you back to the TARDIS?”

She narrowed her eyes before giving him a grin. “You’re on.” She pushed off of his chest and began the journey back towards the TARIDS.

“That’s cheating!” He leaned forward, too forward, and fell off of the hoverboard. Scrambling onto his feet again, the Doctor raced off after her, calling after her.

Rose laughed softly and glanced back at him briefly. She had made the right decision and was determined to live the rest of her life with her Timelord.


End file.
